Wyoming: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Wyoming does not have an anti-SLAPP statute. There's no special motion to
strike or dismiss, no automatic stay of discovery, and no SLAPP-specific
right to recover attorney's fees. Wyoming came close in 2026: the
Wyoming First Amendment Protection Act (House Bill 103), modeled on the
Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, passed the House but died in
the Senate Judiciary Committee without a vote on March 2, 2026, with
committee members citing concerns about the bill's out-of-state drafting
and an imbalanced attorney's-fee provision. The Legislature's Joint
Judiciary Committee has since approved a formal interim study to craft a
Wyoming-specific version for a future session. Until any new law passes,
a defendant sued over speech in Wyoming relies on ordinary defamation
doctrine and general civil procedure, with no special early exit and no
guarantee of recovering legal fees even after winning.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

There is no anti-SLAPP statute currently in force in Wyoming. The 2026
regular session came the closest Wyoming has to enacting one: House Bill
103 passed the House with bipartisan support but was rejected by the
Senate Judiciary Committee, whose chair said stakeholders were nearly
unanimous that the bill "was not the vehicle" for the job, citing
concerns that it was drafted by an out-of-state attorney and that its
fee provisions were imbalanced between plaintiffs and defendants. The
Joint Judiciary Committee has approved anti-SLAPP legislation as a
formal 2026 interim study topic, aiming to produce Wyoming-specific
draft legislation for a future legislative session.

What speech or conduct would be protected

Not applicable as a statutory matter — there is no statute defining
protected activity. Wyoming case law fills part of the gap with ordinary
constitutional defamation doctrine: the Wyoming Supreme Court has held
that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and press prohibit a
public official from recovering damages for defamatory statements unless
it can be shown that the statements were made with actual malice," the
same rule the U.S. Supreme Court announced in New York Times v.
Sullivan. This protects a defendant only in a defamation case brought by
a public official or public figure — it doesn't reach other tort
theories a SLAPP plaintiff might use instead, like invasion of privacy,
intentional infliction of emotional distress, or claims against a
private-figure plaintiff.

The special motion that doesn't exist

There is no special motion to strike or dismiss a claim based on
protected speech. A defendant must use an ordinary motion to dismiss
under Wyoming Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) or a motion for summary
judgment under Rule 56, on the normal civil litigation timeline, with no
automatic stay of discovery while the motion is pending.

Burden of proof

Because there is no anti-SLAPP statute, there is no early, statute-based
burden-shifting test. Where the actual-malice rule applies to a
defamation claim by a public official or public figure, the plaintiff
carries the burden of proving actual malice, but that burden is resolved
as part of winning or losing the case on the merits — through a motion
to dismiss, summary judgment, or trial — not on an expedited special
motion filed early in the litigation.

Attorney's fees

There is no SLAPP-specific or general frivolous-litigation fee-shifting
statute in Wyoming. Wyoming follows the ordinary American Rule: each
side pays its own attorney's fees regardless of who wins, unless a
specific statute, contract, or court rule independently authorizes a fee
award. A general cost statute, W.S. § 1-14-126(b), lets a court exercise
discretion over the amount of a fee award, but only in actions "for
which an award of attorney's fees is authorized" by some other law — it
does not create fee-shifting authority on its own, so it offers no
practical substitute in an ordinary defamation or tort case.

Right to appeal

There is no special interlocutory appeal right tied to a ruling on a
speech-based motion. Ordinary Wyoming rules on final judgments and
permissive interlocutory appeals under the Wyoming Rules of Appellate
Procedure apply, the same as in any other civil case.

Exemptions

Not applicable — there is no statute to carve exemptions from.

What trips people up

Wyoming came close to passing a law in 2026, but didn't. House Bill
103 cleared the House with support from both parties before dying in a
Senate committee — someone researching Wyoming law from an older source,
or from national news coverage of the bill's House passage, could easily
come away thinking Wyoming has an anti-SLAPP law when it currently does
not.

An interim study isn't a law, and doesn't guarantee one is coming.
The Joint Judiciary Committee's 2026 interim study is a step toward
possible future legislation, not a pending bill with an effective date —
there's no guarantee it produces a bill, or that a future bill passes.

Wyoming's fee rule cuts against defendants, not for them. Some other
no-statute states have a general fee-shifting court rule that at least
partially substitutes for a real anti-SLAPP fee award (Alaska's Rule 82,
for example). Wyoming has no such general rule — the plain American Rule
applies, so a defendant who wins a meritless defamation suit typically
recovers nothing for the legal fees spent defending it.

There's no discovery stay while you fight the underlying claim.
Without a special motion, discovery proceeds on the normal timeline
regardless of whether the lawsuit targets protected speech.

Common questions

Does Wyoming have any fast way to get a meritless lawsuit over my
speech thrown out? No. There's no SLAPP-specific procedure. You'd use
an ordinary motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment, which
takes the normal amount of time and comes with no automatic discovery
stay.

I heard Wyoming passed an anti-SLAPP law in 2026 — is that true? No.
A bill (House Bill 103) passed the Wyoming House but was rejected by a
Senate committee in March 2026 and never became law. A legislative
committee is now studying the issue for a possible future bill.

If I win a defamation case in Wyoming, do I get my attorney's fees
back? Not automatically, and usually not at all. Wyoming follows the
American Rule, so each side generally pays its own fees regardless of
who wins, unless a specific statute or contract says otherwise.

Statutes and sources

• Hill v. Stubson, 2018 WY 43, 420 P.3d 732 (Wyo. 2018) — "'[T]he
  constitutional guarantees of free speech and press prohibit a public
  official from recovering damages for defamatory statements unless it
  can be shown that the statements were made with actual malice.' Martin
  v. Comm. for Honesty and Justice at Star Valley Ranch, 2004 WY 128, ¶
  9, 101 P.3d 123, 127 (Wyo. 2004) (citing New York Times v. Sullivan,
  376 U.S. at 279, 84 S.Ct. at 726)." Source:
  https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6656716/hill-v-stubson/
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• W.S. § 1-14-126(b) — "In civil actions for which an award of
  attorney's fees is authorized, the court in its discretion may award
  reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party without requiring
  expert testimony." Source:
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title01.pdf (accessed
  2026-07-05).